PETA Member Appeals Court Decision in Favor of Bow Hunting

PETA does not know when to quit.

Well, folks, it looks like PETA is at it again. This time they are appealing a court decision that allows for bows to be used to harvest deer in Maryland.

Here is the backstory.

Eilene Cohhn lost a case that fought against Montgomery County’s use of bow hunting to manage the local deer population. Apparently this is one PETA member who will not go down without a fight.

Her argument stems from her conclusion that the bow hunting error rate is too high and therefore causes animals to suffer unjustly. The error rate that was mentioned in the case suggests that 7% of all deer that are shot with an arrow do not die quickly enough and are therefore forced to suffer “unnecessary and unjustifiable pain.”

The regulations in the area do not allow for the discharge of firearms. The current archery season in Montgomery County started Sept. 9 and runs through Jan. 31.

Believe it or not, Jeff Kerr, PETA’s general counsel, released this statement:

“With bow-hunting season underway, hunters are once again lurking in tree stands, ready to destroy deer families, kill lactating does and their young, and send steel arrows tearing through the flesh of these animals, who then endure slow, agonizing deaths… The only way to curb the deer population is by reducing the food available to them—not by cruelly killing them year after year. Ms. Cohhn will not stop fighting for deer, and PETA encourages Montgomery County residents who care about animals to ask their county council to bring an end to this waste of tax dollars.”

I am going to bite my tongue on this one an let you ponder what they just stated for a moment.

In fact, I will leave you with some very polite remarks given by Bill Hamilton, the principal natural resources specialist for Montgomery Parks:

“We have determined archery managed hunts are a safe, lawful and effective way to address these requests in areas where firearms would create a greater risk.”

The idea that PETA has nothing better to do than to attack bow hunting regulations is upsetting. I know animal cruelty is a real thing and that some PETA arguments are actually well thought out. However, their attack on hunting and hunting regulations is starting to sound absurd.